Adding mulch to a landfill clay cover is a cost effective way to mitigate methane emissions from landfills. This was determined by setting up 3 plots (18x32m) at the Leon County landfill. Two bio-covers consisted of a 15-20 cm thick glass dispersion layer overlain by a layer of mulch either 60cm or 30cm thick over a temporary clay layer. Flux and isotope measurements were collected monthly from 8/3/2004 until 9/22/2005. In addition to the bio-covers, a control area was also measured. Overall, the deep treatment significantly decreased the flux from the landfill. The deep mulch had an average flux, geospatial mean and median flux of 19, 16 and 16 g CH4 m-2d-1. The shallow mulch had an average flux, geospatial mean and median flux of 121, 98 and 17 g CH4 m-2d-1. Finally the control had an average flux, geospatial mean and median flux 104, 98 and 98 g CH4 m-2d-1. Therefore, the deep mulch area decreased flux emissions five times compared to the no mulch area. The shallow mulch area was dominated by high emissions from a single area, a hot spot. Two biocover areas had frequent numbers of zero and negative fluxes while the control area had only one such observation. A negative flux indicates a downward flux of atmospheric CH4 into the landfill. In this case all of the CH4 coming from the landfill is oxidized before it reaches the surface, or else it is blocked by an impermeable zone below the surface. The deep mulch significantly increased the percent oxidation relative to the control. Based upon isotope-determined values, the average and median were 41 and 37%. The shallow mulch had an average and median of 21 and 22%. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Oceanography in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science. / Summer Semester, 2006. / April 25, 2006. / Landfill, Methane, Biocover, Oxidation / Includes bibliographical references. / Jeffrey Chanton, Professor Directing Thesis; Tarek Abichou, Committee Member; Joel Kostka, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_182567 |
| Contributors | Fleiger, Jillian (authoraut), Chanton, Jeffrey (professor directing thesis), Abichou, Tarek (committee member), Kostka, Joel (committee member), Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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